Traditionally, horses have been mounted by providing a pair of stirrups suspended from opposite sides of a bare backed horse or one fitted with a saddle fixed over the back of a horse, usually by a flank strap that extends from the saddle to encircle the body of the horse. Children and other riders of short stature have stood on blocks or posts so that a rider could lift one of his or her legs to bring the corresponding foot into engagement with one of the stirrups on one side of the horse (usually the left side) and swing the other leg over the back of the horse until the rider was mounted in sitting position on the saddle and was able to engage the other foot into the other stirrup. Straps of adjustable length were sometimes used to adjust the elevation of the stirrups from ground level to avoid a need for mounting blocks or posts of different heights for riders of different heights. As an alternative, riders of short stature were boosted by hand by other people to help them mount a horse.
In the past, it was often necessary to have two people assist a rider who was either too short to reach the back of the horse or too weak to jump onto the back of the horse to mount the horse. One person held the horse and another person boosted the rider onto the horse.
When a horse is to be ridden bare-backed, the problem of mounting becomes more complicated because of the absence of a saddle to support stirrups therefrom. Typically, a rider jumps over the back of the horse to be mounted and leans across the horse to place the stomach of the rider across the back of the horse so that the head of the rider extends sideways beyond one side of the back of the horse and the feet of the rider extend sideways beyond the other side of the horse. The rider must clamber awkwardly from the stomach-down prone position to an upright sitting position.
Some horses without saddles have been equipped with a flank strap from which stirrups are suspended. However, as soon as a rider engages a stirrup so arranged while mounting the horse, the weight of the rider causes the flank strap and stirrups to slide around the body of the horse from their proper orientation. Thus it becomes difficult, if not impossible, for a rider to obtain a balanced sitting position with both feet engaging both stirrups at equal heights above the ground under such circumstances.
To the best of my knowledge, no one has devised a solution to the previously mentioned problems.
British Pat. No. 299, 106 to Roberts provides a temporary auxiliary means for mounting an animal in the form of a hunting crop or whip having a rigid L-shaped handle. This patented invention is characterized by adapting a flexible part of the crop or whip to be passed through a stirrup and connected in an easily detachable manner to the handle of the whip. When attached to the stirrup, the rigid L-shaped handle of the detachable whip serves as an auxiliary stirrup closer to ground level than the ordinary stirrup, thereby enabling a shorter rider to mount the animal than one who is tall enough to use the ordinary riding stirrup. When detached from the ordinary riding stirrup, the whip can resume its normal function. This patent requires the use of ordinary stirrups that are attached to a saddle or a flank strap to provide support for the whip when the latter serves as an auxiliary stirrup. No mention is made in this patent of avoiding the need for a flank strap to secure a saddle or stirrups to the body of the animal.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,252,257 to Harvey discloses a combination flank strip and cinch girth that is readily releasable from its usual operating position surrounding a bucking bronco to avoid the hazardous operation of unfastening the flank strap while it is attached to the horse. The apparatus of this patent cannot operate in the absence of a flank strap portion that extends across and under the body of a horse.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,812,123 to Girton discloses a multipurpose gun sling which may also be used as a short leash on an animal such as a hunting dog, or on a child to retain either of them close and under the control of an adult. In another embodiment, the potential device may be used as a tourniquet. The sling comprises a flexible strap folded back on itself at both ends to form a loop at each end of the strap. Means is provided to adjust the size of each loop individually. This patent does not teach how to modify any of its embodiments to enable its use as a leg up strap to assist a peson to mount a horse.